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The Bengals looked a little lost in the first half on the field during their 21-26 loss to the Chargers, and it turns out that they also had issues communicating.
You may have noticed the Bengals’ coaches talking into walkie-talkies during the game at times, which appeared to have a been them using their backup plan as the headsets were having issues.
Lewis said they had a lot of communication issues on both sides of the ball in the first half. It’s been the biggest issue he’s been involved with at the NFL level due to headsets not correctly working... had to move to walkie-talkies. #Bengals
— Marisa Contipelli (@BengalsMarisa) December 10, 2018
It isn’t clear if the NFL provides the headsets to a team, or if the team provides their own. It isn’t acceptable either way though as headsets should just work in this era of football with technology where it is.
It also sounds like an awful lot like Marvin Lewis is throwing an excuse out there for a close loss. They still had a way of communicating, and during the second quarter the Bengals really shutdown the Chargers’ offense. The only thing that really held the Bengals back at times were their decisions and pre-snap penalties. You can’t really blame those on poor communication, especially when this wasn’t a brand new dilemma.
The first time Cincinnati has had issues communication from the sideline to the players ironically happened when Lewis first took over as defensive coordinator back in Week 10 against the Ravens. That game was starting also the first time Hardy Nickerson started at MIKE linebacker and had the line of (or lack of) communication with Lewis,
Either way, the Bengals have dropped five straight games, and they have failed to secure a winning season for the third straight year as they fall to 5-8. Even with the plethora of injuries the team has suffered, this season has been nothing short of a disappointment. The Bengals played better against the Chargers, but they still remain at the bottom of the barrel of the NFL teams, and they seemed almost destined for a top-10 draft pick.
Between failing to have this team in proper place to succeed this season, failing to turn around the defense and being unable to properly communicate between the sideline and field, it seems like the Bengals should find a new coach to fit for some new headsets.